Jay White- New IWGP Champion

[corndog]

Feb 11, 2019 12:37:28 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Hey, maybe AEW will run MSG at some point in the future and then you can go back and actually see the talent you wanted in the first place? I'm glad to not have bothered with Honor Club at the moment since to get the PPVs without paying extra you have to do some year long commitment.

Honestly I don't get the White thing. He's decent, can be great at times, but at this point you ask yourself "What would this guy be in WWE?" At least with the gaijins you can do that easily. Kenny Omega would almost certainly be the WWE champion if he went there. AJ Styles has been the WWE champion. I doubt White would be. What's odd is that the idea of Bullet Club is that they've been a heel NWO style group in Japan, but are popular antiheroes in America and Europe. White is not a popular antihero, he's just a total heel that's hated everywhere. Add in that this version of the BC has several native Japanese guys in it, including the company's main booker and associate booker (Gedo, Jado), Ishimori, and of course Yujiro (who has been in it for years). So apparently the idea of it being an outsider gaijin group is gone. But if that isn't what the group is...then what is it?

The original premise of the Bullet Club was gaijins that went through the New Japan dojo, which still stands true to an extent with G.O.D, Bad Luck Fale and White. It didn't become outsiders until AJ Styles and Gallows joined the group, then continued with the addition of the Elite. It also wasn't the "cool heels" until Styles joined as well. So really Bullet Club has gone back more to it's roots.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Not surprising. NJPW's roster is in a rebuilding period and they needed to light a fire under somebody to keep things going while they figure stuff out. White was the most logical option and they were right to do it here.

Say what you will about Gedo but he does have a strong record of making guys between Okada & Omega. If anybody can make White a star, it's him. Will it actually work? Who knows but they had to try something or the belt was gonna be dead in the water with Tanahashi having virtually no challengers.

[Alice Syndrome]

Feb 11, 2019 9:58:33 GMT -5 RedSmile said:

Thread title just spoiled it for me, as I had planned on watching this show later tonight after work.

Thanks!!

[Deleted]

I haven't watched NJPW in a bit, but this is really cool. I've been a supporter of Jay White for a while now. I really enjoyed his work as a Young Lion and am thrilled that he's made his way up the ranks like this.

[corndog]

To get back on topic, Jay White has improved greatly as of late. He's been having much better matches than when he first returned. His US title match with Juice and WK match with Okada were both very good, this match with Tanahashi was very good storytelling. I will venture to say White is IMO, more ready for the title than Okada was his first time.

[Deleted]

I really liked the match and the finish. White isn’t the finished article yet, and this does remind me of Okada’s first reign. It’s something to build off and the impetus is on White to grow and capitalise.

I do think he’s a good heel and he’s constantly getting better. His theme music is f***ing great. The quality of his matches are constantly getting better (compare this Tanahashi match to their first, its not even close) and he fills a spot that New Japan needed to fill.

I don’t see a long reign, I see this as a stepping stone to a series of matches between Okada/Naito/Ibushi. But it’s a ballsy move that establishes a new main eventer and further underlines the ability of the young lion system.

[Convoy]

Love it. White has been consistently the best thing going for months, while at the same time improving with every match. He’s earned this reign.

In this world of “cool” heels and meme wrestlers, Jay has struck gold as a true shitbird. Even worse – he backs it up with win after win. Strap the rocket to this kid and solidify him as a cornerstone of the company for the next decade+.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Feb 11, 2019 14:48:24 GMT -5 corndog said:

To get back on topic, Jay White has improved greatly as of late. He's been having much better matches than when he first returned. His US title match with Juice and WK match with Okada were both very good, this match with Tanahashi was very good storytelling. I will venture to say White is IMO, more ready for the title than Okada was his first time.

It's not a stretch to say he's more advanced than Okada was at this point when he won the title

Now you can say that's thanks to Okada having some twist and turns but Jay just looks more polished than Okada was. Of course in saying that Okada essentially won the title Year 1 in his rainmaker phase while Jay White is in Year 2

Either way, you can see why they have been hyping him up as the biggest prospect since Okada

[corndog]

Feb 11, 2019 14:57:23 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Feb 11, 2019 14:48:24 GMT -5 corndog said:

To get back on topic, Jay White has improved greatly as of late. He's been having much better matches than when he first returned. His US title match with Juice and WK match with Okada were both very good, this match with Tanahashi was very good storytelling. I will venture to say White is IMO, more ready for the title than Okada was his first time.

It's not a stretch to say he's more advanced than Okada was at this point when he won the title

Now you can say that's thanks to Okada having some twist and turns but Jay just looks more polished than Okada was. Of course in saying that Okada essentially won the title Year 1 in his rainmaker phase while Jay White is in Year 2

Either way, you can see why they have been hyping him up as the biggest prospect since Okada

Okada was younger and just returned from excursion, while White has been back for over a year now. So I am not saying White is better or more advanced at the same point in his career. In year one, White still had some work to do, the difference between now and the first Tanahashi match is night and day.

[Deleted]

Really my biggest criticism of White is mostly just that he could desperately use better gear. It looks so damn cheap, like Curt Hawkins' singlets look more legit than his tights.

[ANuclearError]

The most intriguing part of this to me is that they've kept him and Naito away from each other so far. Makes things more interesting if Naito gets his wish to enter NCJ as IC Champion.

[abjordans]

Question for more well versed NJPW fans:

Why is there no backlash against White from fans? He doesn’t seem to be in the top 5 most over people on the roster, maybe not top 10. Yet, he has been slammed over- beating Omega, Okada, and Tanahashi.

[Fade]

Maaaaan and everyone thought it wouldn’t happen this soon. I’m happy for Jay.

Also I was at the G1 in San Fran: The hate for Jay in the air was palpable. I can only imagine how it’ll be at MSG.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Feb 11, 2019 15:40:32 GMT -5 abjordans said:

Question for more well versed NJPW fans:

Why is there no backlash against White from fans? He doesn’t seem to be in the top 5 most over people on the roster, maybe not top 10. Yet, he has been slammed over- beating Omega, Okada, and Tanahashi.

I would disagree on him not being over

Also as mentioned in this thread since day 1 they brought him back they have hyped him up big as the biggest prospect since Okada. He first 2-3 months were rough but once the summer came he hit his stride which lead to him losing the title to Juice and moving on to the feud with Okada

Gedo has made it no secret he sees him as a big deal and everyone knew once he beat Okada at WK and Tana won the belt that it was a strong chance White was on his way to winning it as well

He's basically mirroring young Okada from having Gedo as a manager, being a cocky but good son of a bitch, and now beating Tana for the title

His reign won't last past Dominion imo but everyone sees the writing on the wall

[Mozenrath]

Gedo's been a good eye for potential so far, so I'll trust him. Wonder if the plan is that Okada gets his revenge, and Naito gets his.

In any case, NJPW needed to fill the void that Omega's leaving, and while Jay is not on his level yet, Okada also wasn't on Okada's current level when he first got the title. He had to grow into it. I hope Jay will do the same.

[corndog]

Feb 11, 2019 15:40:32 GMT -5 abjordans said:

Question for more well versed NJPW fans:

Why is there no backlash against White from fans? He doesn’t seem to be in the top 5 most over people on the roster, maybe not top 10. Yet, he has been slammed over- beating Omega, Okada, and Tanahashi.

Good storytelling, while White has been pushed since returning from excursion, he has been building to this moment throughout 2018. Also, it means his win over Okada at Wrestle Kingdom wasn't wasted.

He's improved immensely since returning. His character has been really good since early last year, but in his last few big matches, his ring work has started to catch up with his character work.

While he beat Omega, Okada, and Tanahashi, they still go to tell their own story. His win over Omega was actually overshadowed by the Golden Lover's reunion. His wins over Okada have been more about Okada needing to find himself after losing the belt and then being betrayed by Gedo, he is now on a path to redemption. Now Tanahashi had a very short title reign, but it's clear his body has been betraying him for a while. While many would have liked to see Tanahashi hold the title longer, he had his feel good moment by winning the belt and getting to be "the Ace" one more time at Wrestle Kingdom. Also, most of us knew Tanahashi's run would be a transitional one, as he is took physically broken down to be champion for a long period of time.

Also, we didn't expect White to be Omega. Omega's goal was to have the greatest, critically acclaimed matches. Jay White's goal is tell a story and get people to hate him and he's damn good at it. He's not out there trying to have 15 star matches, but today he told a great story in the ring without doing completely insane moves and having the workrate of junior heavyweights on speed. Also, Omega was pushed right after AJ Styles left and at the beginning of 2016, no one expected him to be a believable G1 winner and main eventing the Tokyo Dome in the next year. So this has happened before, Jay White is just much younger.

The final point, he's 26 and he's already pretty darn good. Just imagine where he will be in a few years if he keeps progressing at the current rate?

[Convoy]

There’s also something to be said about Jay’s time as a Young Lion. I think the Japanese crowd is more forgiving of a move like this, as they’ve seen him grow over the years. Then he’s delivered once he returned.

If he just showed up as an outsider/new talent and was given all this it would be different. If he came back and sucked like YOSHI-HASHI or Hirasawa/Saito, it would be different.

[The Kevstaaa]

I loved Tanahashi winning the title from Omega. I loved White winning it from Tanahashi.

He's fresh and this division is in DIRE need of freshening up. Hopefully they keep things interesting and don't just throw the title back on Okada.

Remember when Naito won it and things seemed fresh, only to lose it back to Okada in 70 days, putting us back in status quo mode?

[Deleted]

I just can't take this guy seriously. If that's his goal then hey he got me but regardless I can't take him seriously.

[MAGGLE]

Feb 11, 2019 8:43:41 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Jay's story is kind of amazing too

Won tickets to WrestleMania 27, got him back into wrestling, moved to the other side of the world to train, got noticed + recommended by Devitt, went to NJPW with no knowledge of the company, + beats their biggest stars + becomes 4th youngest champ

Friggen amazing ride.

Hey can I have an honest discussion with no flaming. Just a question since you are in the majority of people I know that do this:


You hated on Roman for years on this forum and you support this? This is literally the same thing. I really want to know, I didnt like Roman too but atleast I am not supporting this now.